Always Waiting
by AdmHawthorne
Summary: Maura Isles was always waiting on Jane Rizzoli. One Shot.


**One shot. I'm playing around with this idea, and I may write something else based on the same theme. But, I figured I wrote it, so I might as well post it.**

**No characters belong to me. They belong to the very talented Tess and, of course, Turner Broadcasting... lucky devils.**

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><p>Maura Isles was always waiting on Jane Rizzoli.<p>

It had been that way since they first met. At their very first crime scene together, Maura patiently waited for Jane to go through the motions of testing out the new medical examiner, unfazed by anything the detective could say to her.

"So, what's the cause of death?" Detective Rizzoli stood, towering over the small woman hunched over the body of a male victim.

"I won't know until I can get him to my lab. The bruising and reddish brown stains…"

"Hold on, did you just say 'reddish brown' stains?" With a look of disbelief on her face, the detective squatted next to the doctor. "That," she pointed to the stains in question, "is blood. What kind of medical school did you graduate from? The Dr. Suess School of the Ambiguous?"

"No, and I've never heard of that school. Perhaps you can show me their website sometime? It sounds like a unique place. You know," the honey blonde went on as she continued to look over the body, "there are thousands of colleges across the United States, and the likelihood of any single person knowing the names of all of them is highly unlikely, though not impossible."

"Yeah," Jane narrowed her eyes at the other woman, "are you serious?"

"Well, yes, of course," Maura stood up and motioned for the techs to move the body into the van. "It _is_ plausible to know all the names of all the colleges within the borders of the Untied States, but the…

"No, that's not… I mean, really?" With a roll of her eyes, Jane stepped back to give the techs room. "You really _are_ serious, aren't you? I bet you didn't have a lot friends in school."

"No, I didn't."

Jane's jaw dropped at the new examiner's frankness. "I… I'm sorry. I was just… wow. Okay, so you're honest at least. So, the blood…"

"Reddish brown stain."

"That is _clearly_ blood. How can you say it's a 'reddish brown stain' when it was covering the guy? Come on!"

Ignoring the anger in the detective's voice and her wild hand gestures, Maura stated matter-of-factly, "It could be blood, but it could be any number of things as well. Just because something looks obvious doesn't mean that it is. Surely you've found that to be the case as you've gone through your career as a detective? It is my _duty_ to provide the best, most detailed information to you so that you may do your job, and I would be remiss in my duties if I gave you incorrect data. I won't do that. My credentials and record speak for itself, though I'll be happy to provide you with a copy of each if you'd like. I'm good at what I do because I'm thorough, and I _do not_ give information based on assumptions or guesses. It is a reddish brown stain until such time as I can confirm it is blood, or paint, or rust, or some sort of condiment." Face serious, eyes intense, Maura turned away from the techs who had finished moving the body into the van to the detective still standing by her side and waited for a response.

She waited calmly and quietly, eyes expectant, but she said nothing.

The silence stretched as the tall, lanky brunette shifted her weight and considered the medical examiner's words. "Alright, okay, so how long will it take you to know?"

"As long as it takes, a few hours if everything goes smoothly while performing the tests. Shall I call you when the results are in?"

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Of course, Detective."

With a nod of her head, Maura gave a hint of smile before climbing into the back of the coroner's van.

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><p>It had been that way when Maura had decided it was time for Jane to stop involving herself in activities where her athletic friend was likely to continue getting hurt. At their very first yoga class together, Maura patiently waited for Jane to agree that the experience was not as horrific as she had originally claimed it would be.<p>

"How do you feel? I feel refreshed." Maura toweled her body off as she stood by the locker room bench.

"Really? You feel refreshed? I feel like a pretzel." Jane dug through her gym bag, not bothering to look up at her friend.

"I'm fairly certain pretzels don't have feelings, Jane." Popping her locker open, Maura began to retrieve various items neatly placed in her gym bag. The first was lotion.

"Thank you, Ms. Literal. Man, that sucked. I'm not doing it again. It was boring, and I could get a better workout playing basketball with Frankie." Jane pulled out a pair of worn jeans and a well-loved t-shirt.

"You didn't enjoy the experience at all?" Maura calmly applied her lotion, eyes watching the detective hop around as she pulled her jeans on. "Despite the fact that you were smiling when we finished?"

"I was not smiling. I was smirking at how _stupid_ we all looked in that last position." A loud thud echoed through the gym as Jane slammed into the lockers. "Ow, damn it."

"Language."

"I just… but… okay, fine. Sorry."

"Jane, you honestly didn't enjoy the experience? I would think yoga would be something you would enjoy because it is a challenge of both the body and the mind. I feel confident when I say I've known you long enough to know you appreciate a challenge. I know you're unsteady in most of the poses right now, but, with a little time and practice, I believe you would be very good at all of them. I find it hard to believe that Jane Rizzoli would quit before she beat something that was clearly beating her at the moment." Looking up through lowered lashes, Maura gave a small, challenging smile before turning around to retrieve her body spray and then her dress.

"Hey, _nothing_ is beating me. That's just not going to happen." Jane pulled her shirt on and sat on the bench to pull on her shoes. "What? You think I can't do this? I can _totally_ do this!" Maura said nothing. She simply waited for Jane to finish her rant. "This yoga thing isn't _that_ hard. I got this. I was just a little tired, that's all. You know what? I'm _all over_ this. We're coming back next week. I'm not letting something called the 'downward facing dog' take me out. I've taken out raging drug addicts. I can take out yoga. Pick you up for breakfast before we come?"

"If you insist, Jane." Maura calmly zipped up her gym bag and closed the locker. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, hold on. I got to find my keys, and _I'm_ driving back."

"Of course, Jane."

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><p>It had been that way when Maura waited for Jane to open her eyes after the surgery to close up the wounds from the shooting. It was the first time she had to be by her friend's side in the hospital, and Maura patiently waited for Jane to regain consciousness.<p>

"When you open your eyes, I'll be right here." Maura held her friends limp hand in her own as she sat beside the hospital bed in the small, private room in the intensive care unit. "I hope it's soon. We're all very concerned for you, and I believe Joe misses you. She hasn't chased a ball since you've been away. I believe she prefers the way you toss it to how anyone else does. She's a peculiar and particular animal." With sigh, she added, "much like her owner, I suppose."

Hours had stretched into days as Maura and the rest of Jane's friends and family waited for the detective to awake, and, as promised, Maura remained by Jane's side patiently waiting.

"I'm confident you'll regain consciousness when you're ready to do so and not a moment before," the doctor brushed the detective's hair. "I wonder if you're aware of the grey in your hair?"

"All 12 of strands of them. I named them all after you and Frankie." Jane opened her eyes, voice raspy and dry. "How long?"

"Four days."

"Frankie?"

"He'll be fine."

"You?"

"I'm fine."

"Sorry I took so long," the detective coughed and then winced.

"It's okay, Jane. I knew you'd eventually come back. Let me get the nurses so we can change your bandages and get your pain medication adjusted."

"Thank you."

"Of course, Jane."

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><p>It was so now as Maura watched Jane pace. The doctor waited for Jane to say something to indicate where they would go moving forward. It was the first time either of them had spoken about what both of them had been edging around, and Maura patiently waited for Jane to make her conclusions.<p>

The taller woman circled around the doctor's coffee table as she ran a hand through her hair. "Maura, we can't just _do_ this. I mean, you're not and I'm not; _we're_ not. How can we if we're both not like that?"

"I am like me for I can be no other. The same goes for you. Our emotions are our own, Jane. How we choose to address them is what determines what we are. I choose to consider myself me and not place myself into a box that does not well define who I am." Maura stood beside the sofa, out of Jane's path. She leaned against the armrest and waited, eyes expectant.

"I just… I just don't know. I should be freaked out about this." Jane's eyes widened. "I should be completely freaked out about this. Why am I _not_ freaked out about this? It doesn't make any sense. I'm not like that. I've never done anything that anyone would even think about as… okay, that's not true. I do a few things, but, still… I should be freaking out. Why am I not freaking out?" She stopped in front of the honey blonde. "Maura? Why am I not freaking out?"

"Are you actually asking me with the expectation of a response, or is that a rhetorical question?"

"I don't know. Yes?" Shaking her head and taking in a deep breath, Jane tried again. "I'm freaking out because I'm not freaking out, right? That's what's happening here, isn't it?" With a note of annoyance in her voice, she added, "Not a rhetorical question."

"Yes, I'd say your analysis of your reaction is accurate based on what I've heard from you so far this evening." Maura tilted her head to the side, eyes regarding the detective for a moment. "Do you _want_ to 'freak out' about this situation?"

"No." Jane shook her head emphatically. "No, I really don't."

"Then why are you upset about not being upset? Your reaction confuses me. I find it difficult to believe that you are frightened of what others may think. I know you quite well, and I feel very confident when I say that, if you wanted to move forward, you wouldn't be afraid to do so. But, perhaps I've misjudged?"

"I'm not afraid. I'm… I'm confused." Jane ran a hand through her hair, flipping the unruly curls out of her face. "We're friends."

"Yes."

"Neither one of us has done this kind of thing before."

"Correct."

"What if…"

"I don't like sentences that start with 'what if'," Maura deadpanned.

"Right. Okay… but, let's assume…"

"Not any better." This time, the medical examiner gave a light smirk at Jane's eye roll. "You know I go with facts, not assumptions or guesses."

"What are the facts?"

"We've already been over those this evening. Do you really want me to reiterate those points?"

"No, not really. Okay, so… _maybe_… I _might_… have a thing for you." Maura said nothing, not even giving a nod of her head. She simply waited for Jane to finish processing. "You tell me you _do_ have a thing for me. So… what? We have a thing for each other. But, neither one of us is gay. I've never so much as _kissed_ a girl before. But, I guess everyone has that one person, right? You always hear people say, 'I'd totally go gay for' whatever person they're talking about. I never had that. I never had some celeb I'd 'totally go gay' for, but, then again, I don't really go for looks either. Sure, they're important, but I want to know someone before I decide I want to _be_ with them, and," Jane's voice was softening, "I know you. I know you _really _well." The tension was leaving her body as she regarded the woman still quietly and patiently waiting for her to finish her thoughts. "I know you better than I've ever known anyone, and I… I like what I know about you."

Maura gave a reassuring smile but remained quiet.

"I like it a lot. I like how you're always getting me to try new stuff even when I don't want to. I like how you make my day better when it's crappy. I like that you know when I'm having a bad day because it's a bad or because I'm in pain, and you don't ask me which. You just know. I like that you trust me enough to know that I'll always come home, even if it's with a new scar. I like that you know when not to say something and let me work it out for myself." She chuckled. "Kind of like you're doing right now. You're waiting on me, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"You do that a lot, huh?"

"It is part of our dynamic. I accepted that it would be the first time we met." Again, Maura smiled.

"I remember that. I was going to totally give you a smack down, but, then you made this super good point about accuracy and reddish brown stains, and I realized I'd rather be on your good side than your bad because you were sharp. I wasn't wrong."

"Thank you."

"I wasn't wrong," Jane's voice was quiet, introspective. "I went with my gut, and it was right. I'm thinking I should just go with it again." She stepped closer, leaning down and slightly over the woman in front of her. "I hope it's right again." Taking in one last calming breath, she closed the distance and placed a kiss on Maura's waiting lips.

"You should trust your gut more often," Maura whispered before pulling the detective down for another, deeper kiss.

As they broke apart, Jane smiled, a blush running across her features. "Sorry I took so long."

"It's okay, Jane. I trusted you'd eventually come around. I just had to wait long enough."

"I'll try not to take so long on this stuff anymore. I can't guarantee, but I promise to try. Is that okay?"

"Of course, Jane."

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading. Your reviews are always loved and appreciated.<strong>


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